Housing and Planning Bill (Sixteenth sitting)

Debate between Andrew Griffiths and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 10th December 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

The Minister must really be struggling to defend this policy if the best he can come up with is a Minister many, many years ago making what we all thought were personal comments. They were never accepted as Labour party policy or proposed in legislation. That was a speech in which she made personal comments. [Laughter.] I find it pretty shocking that Government Members are laughing, given that these clauses seek to take important rights from people. Labour did not take that approach either in government or in opposition, and the Minister should not suggest that we did.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

rose—

Housing and Planning Bill (Twelfth sitting)

Debate between Andrew Griffiths and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 3rd December 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

Indeed. That is a succinct critique of the whole scheme in one sentence.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Can I give the hon. Lady another succinct example? I draw her attention to a report in the Evening Standard from April 2012 about the fact that former Labour Cabinet member Frank Dobson was paying £160 a week to live in a £1 million housing association property. Is he the kind of person the Labour party wants to support these days?

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

I thought we were seriously scrutinising a piece of legislation. We are looking at the impact of this part of the Bill. We know that the £30,000 threshold that the Government want to introduce is barely more than their new national minimum wage. That is extraordinary.

[Andrew Griffiths]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

If the hon. Gentleman is just going to reiterate his previous intervention, I am telling him what I think of it.

[Andrew Griffiths]

I assure the hon. Lady that I am not. I am interested to hear the Labour party’s position on this matter. If she thinks that £30,000 is too little, can she tell us what is the correct amount at which people should begin to pay a fair rent?

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

For about the fifth time this morning, there is a discretionary scheme in operation.

Housing and Planning Bill (Fourth sitting)

Debate between Andrew Griffiths and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 19th November 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

Yes, I can do that easily and am happy to refer the hon. Lady to the figures I gave a moment ago. The last Labour Government supported housing associations to build social homes for rent. That is why the figures for social rented homes—[Interruption]. If Conservative Members want to look at the figures, they are on the DCLG website and they break down how affordable homes are delivered, and under what tenure. They make it clear that in 2003-04 about 20,000 homes for social rent were being built. By the time the recession hit, that had increased to about 37,000 or 38,000 homes a year.

That was not enough, but it was more than when we came to office. Last year, in that same category the number was 10,000. Perhaps we did not build enough homes for social rent, but the situation was a lot better than now.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Obviously the hon. Lady would not want to give the Committee the wrong impression. She has made reference to conversations or what the Mayor’s office may have said. Will she later today come back with some hard evidence—some quotes for the Committee of what the Mayor is supposed to have said—so that we can clearly understand what was said, and the context?

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

The hon. Gentleman does not have to look very hard, because the front page of Inside Housing of either this week or last week has comments from the deputy Mayor about how concerned he is. Perhaps that is contrary to some evidence that was given to the Committee, but there is some concern in the Mayor’s office about how starter homes might negatively affect what I think is the rent-to-buy scheme.

High Streets

Debate between Andrew Griffiths and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Wednesday 16th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Roberta Blackman-Woods]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving us that example, which clearly demonstrates what is wrong with the Government’s approach. I hope the Minister has heard it.

I should tell the Minister that the Opposition are not against change to use classes, but the Government are entirely misguided in seeking to introduce a national permitted development right that will bypass local decision making and give communities no say in what ends up on their high streets.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

On the Channel 4 “Dispatches” programme in August last year, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), said that the Gambling Act 2005 was a “mistake”, that the consequences

“are ruining the high street and people’s lives”

and that “we were wrong”. Do you agree?

[Roberta Blackman-Woods]

The hon. Gentleman should pay more attention to what is happening to changes in use class resulting in more gambling outlets on his high street.